I've always wanted to use the Sovereigns with Uril, the Miststalker. Anything less just ain't worth the time.

He's right about Uril. Uril is the most powerful creature to use with the Sovereigns and is on budget. You also cannot complain about the colors because that forces you to play 4 colors, which Jacob played last week with Ancient Ziggurat. I am not sure what to cut though, or if the deck would be improved by including it over something else.

My opponent untapped and played another Howling Mine, and I drew a Bant Charm and another Deft Duelist. I attacked for 4 and my opponent used a Safe Passage. I used Bant Charm to destroy the Howling Mine and put lethal damage on the table with Deft Duelist. My opponent simply passed. I swung the next turn and walked into another Fog. The next swing finally did him in.

Why didn't you just Bant Charm the Safe Passage? It does counter Instants, y'know...

My opponent untapped and played another Howling Mine, and I drew a Bant Charm and another Deft Duelist. I attacked for 4 and my opponent used a Safe Passage. I used Bant Charm to destroy the Howling Mine and put lethal damage on the table with Deft Duelist. My opponent simply passed. I swung the next turn and walked into another Fog. The next swing finally did him in.

Why didn't you just Bant Charm the Safe Passage? It does counter Instants, y'know...

Because his opponent probably had 5 cards in hand and enough mana to cast another fog, so he's better off taking out their engine than wasting a counter?

Blocking a Thrinax with your Sphinx against an untapped Jund, however...

Really nice one!And I am missing 3 knights of the orchard for the full 60, right of the bat!(I know I have been thinking of smt along these lines since I have been picking up crap rares like soverigns)

Why didn't you just Bant Charm the Safe Passage? It does counter Instants, y'know...

If I understand corectly, he didn't have enough power to go lethal at that point - but he knew he would have enough next turn. So any extra damage he could sneak in this turn would be mostly irrelevant.

This deck was really cool. I've been looking for some strategy for Gigantiform, and now I've found it. Great article!!

Fear Of The Dark, Fear Of The Dark, I Have A Constant Fear That Something's Always Near; Fear Of The Dark, Fear Of The Dark, I Have A Phobia That Someone's Always There- Iron Maiden
Fear of the Dark shall be feared no longer! Let him be praised instead! (Many, many thanks for all your hard work!) - darkwarlock
I am Red/GreenTake The Magic Dual Colour Test - Beta today!Created with Rum and Monkey's Personality Test Generator.

I'm both instinctive and emotional. I value my own instincts and desires, and either ignore or crush anything that stands in my way; planning and foresight are unnecessary. At best, I'm determined and fierce; at worst, I'm headstrong and infantile.

People last week were clammoring for a Standard deck, so they got their wish. Not really my cup of tea, but then again, I drink coffee, so the comparison really doesn't work. I agree that I would be tempted to throw in Elder Mastery just because. There are not many awesome Auras in Standard, but maybe when Worldwake and Rise of the Eldrazi are released, this deck will get a shot in the arm.

Regarding your Specter of Change article (and the deck listed in that article), Dan Jordan won Connecticut States with a Jund-style deck sporting Sedraxis Specter. While not your build, it does show that the disruption caused by the unearthable flyer is potent.

Of course this deck has trouble with Fog.dec. I think it was fairly obvious from the start. This deck is all creatures, and Fog is designed to stop just that.

On the other hand, I really like this deck. I like the fact that it goes from defensive to offensive as soon as you lay down Sovereigns o Lost Alara. You play that, attack with any chump you have on the table, and instantly you put major pressure on your opponent.

Its not like you play Sovereigns and then have to wait to untap. You play it, then any little 1/1 attacks as a 9/9 trampler that turn. I also love the fact that you can squeeze in some anti- tech pretty easily. The White Knight vs. Jund is pretty nice. As is the 2/1 Deft Dualist. Nice find with that little guy.

It would be very tempting to make a toolbox of enchantments, but really the only thing else that's out there in Standard would be Elder Mastery. The card advantage that guy could provide would be nice. Maybe as a singleton, or in sideboard vs. Fog as the Mantle's lifegain will do you nothing there anyway.

Also, I was impressed with the performance of your first strikers.. very nice in the meta.

My thoughts on modifying:- unfortunately, a lot of the obvious (to me) improvements are the $$$ rares.. Elspeth/Garruk seem perfect for providing blockers and targets for Gigantiform. - the Jace matchup made me wonder if Oblivion Ring would be more widely useful than Journey to Nowhere. You didn't side in Journey anyway...

i love this kind of deck. it's just a bunch of cards i really like a lot that weren't seeing any action in a deck together. gigantiform, knight of the white orchid, steward of valeron, deft duelist, and sovereigns are all cards i really like. i agree that garruk and elspeth would be pretty awesome here. and if i built this deck i wouldn't be able to resist modifying it a bit so it was a swiss army knife of auras (elder mastery would indeed make an appearance).

"Creature Auras have been a common pitfall in deck building since the beginning of time." -- from the article.

If these cards are such a pitfall then why are contualy printend and contualy added to new sets?

I am seriosuly confused.

this is not official but here are a couple points i can think of:

1) they are flavourfull.2) casual players like them ( i hear)3) there have learned to design good auras here are some techniques they use: - they make them resilient ( savage silhouette gives the creature regeneration) - they cost them so that they pay off the investment almost immidiatly ( for 1R you could probably get " Sorcery target creature gets +3/+3 and haste", when they made it aura they made it "+2/+2 and haste" so that after 1st hit you are almost even and ahead after 2nd hit) - auras that enchant enemies permanents ( journy to nowhere) - auras that catnip or have effect on death ( griffin guide)4) the inherent disadvantage of auras means that they can give them extremly powerfull abilities, that normal creatures would not get for anywhere near the mana cost.5) most auras that you will never play in constructed decks are actually very good in limited formats ( nimbus wings)

while auras do have inherint disadvantages built in to them, as long as development takes that fact in to account they can make them playable. Same way as sorceries are just instants with a play timing disadvantage, but we still have them because that lets r&d make their effects better then the instants and thus playable.

This looks like a fun and relatively powerful deck to make. I might put some money into it (birds of paradise, noble hierarch, maybe garruk's) and see how it goes. I'd be interested to see if Jhessian Infiltrator would be a card that could be worked into it. One of those with some of thouse auras would be a big threat.

I wonder if Marisi's Twinclaws would be playable with the mana acceleration. Having it be a 9/9 double strike would be interesting.

I tested the Budget version of the Deck and it's really fun to play. Also most people playing with me said it is a fun deck to play against, since it's really challenging and often your opponent has to make difficult decisions.

I started modifying the past twenty games and the cards I included were

2 x Elspeth 1 x Garruk2 x Eldrazi Monument

I sorted a Sphinx, a Rhox War Monk and two Stewards out in the MD and it makes such a difference.

There is some really nice stuff you can pull off. Especially vs Jund I had some great games.

Just in case someone wants to experiment a bit with a non budget version.

I love Building on a budget, and I really love this article. The only plan I had wih it was the restriction on mana. I know that there was a lot of ramp, but it wasn't doing it for me. there were a number of games where I was stuck on white with Knight of the White Orchid. Here's my build:

Land: 20Plains x6Forest x6Island x4Seaside Citadel x4

Creatures: 18Deft Duelist x4Rhox War Monk x4Soverigns of Lost Alara x4Sphinx of Lost Truths x2Steward of Valeron x4

Lord_Zed:
I was at my friends house when this happened. He's married and his wife was an excellent baker. She had baked a homemade apple pie the night before.
I was hungry, and my friend convinced me to try those low carb monster drinks. Before this day, I had never triend energy drinks before.
Boy was I in for a treat.
When I tried that first monster, I really enjoyed the flavor, but the taste that it left in my mouth wasn't so good. What was my solution? Drink another!
before I could finish drinking that 2nd monster, I felt it already kicking in(these drinks were not very far apart, we're talking minutes here) my friend decided that it was a good idea to whip out that fresh pie his wife made the night before. I didn't know what to do, since I felt incredibly invigorated, and at the same time, freaked out by the rush I was feeling, but I was also hungry, and my friend have me an entire plate with a fork and said "help yourself." He extended his saucer to me, and I cut him a piece of the pie and handed it to him, then I looked at the pie, noticed that the pie was in an aluminum holder, and dumped the entire pie onto my plate and started eating it with 2 forks. I don't know where I found that other fork, it probably came from my friend. Anyhow, his wife wasn't happy, and I was already in magical christmas land. 2 days later, I was in my friends bed and I slept for 14 hours.
His wife outlawed my from having any of her baked goods for a while(which sucked because I could just show up at there house, steal some sweets, and leave) and said I couldn't have any energy drinks at her house, unless under close watch.
My friend, on the other hand, had to take me out to a steak dinner, because apparently I won a bet where I climbed a tree and didn't die.

I've always wanted to use the Sovereigns with Uril, the Miststalker. Anything less just ain't worth the time.

He's right about Uril. Uril is the most powerful creature to use with the Sovereigns and is on budget.

I'm kind of new on these parts of the forums, but I'll say what I have to say.

It doesn't matter how popular Uril, the Miststalker is in some circles, the card is bad. Period.I do know how popular the card is, being that I play both competitive and casual (although I don't play Casual as much), and I understand what he could do. But, in practice, he doesn't usually do what's printed on the card. It's just not as good as it looks.

Jacob knows what he's talking about. It ain't easy making decks restricted with a budget. And I'm not saying that it's bad because he's not including it, I always thought it was one of those cards that doesn't work like people think it will. My point is, there is a reason why he left it out. That reason is: it just doesn't work. It's not good enough, so it doesn't make the cut.The guy gets paid to make good decks that people can play with and still have a chance. Playing with Uril, the Miststalker is only shortchanging the people that want the best deck they can get on a budget.

This reminds me of a deck that was in his column not too long ago, and someone wondered why he didn't include Mirror-Sigil Sergeant. It was left off because it, too, is bad.

People on a budget want to play with good cards, too. Not things like Bloodhall Ooze, which is cheap, but just doesn't do enough to make a deck good.

Would Indestructibility be a possible SB card? Grants protection from a decks that run a lot of Day of judgement.

Yeah, putting in Dauntless Escort and Garruk were the first things I did when I was trying to transition it from being budget and good to being non-budget and even better. Fortunately, if you play enough Magic you have cards like this. I have 4x Garruks and Dauntless Escorts from previous decks.

I thought about Lotus Cobras and maybe a couple of Eldrazi too. But I don't have those cards and don't care to buy them. In all reality, Knight of the White Orchid and Civic Wayfinder or Garruk are probably better than the Cobras in this deck anyway. KotWO, Wayfinder, and Garruk all provide mana while leaving a body on the table; whereas, Cobra is just a removal target. Without some sort of disgusting Khalni Heart Expedition/Harrow shenanigans or filter lands, Cobra really isn't much better than Steward of Valeron.

Eldrazi seems cool, but I'm not sure if it is better than Dauntless Escort. Eldrazi is more expensive and does less on its own.

I've always wanted to use the Sovereigns with Uril, the Miststalker. Anything less just ain't worth the time.

He's right about Uril. Uril is the most powerful creature to use with the Sovereigns and is on budget.

I'm kind of new on these parts of the forums, but I'll say what I have to say.

It doesn't matter how popular Uril, the Miststalker is in some circles, the card is bad. Period.I do know how popular the card is, being that I play both competitive and casual (although I don't play Casual as much), and I understand what he could do. But, in practice, he doesn't usually do what's printed on the card. It's just not as good as it looks.

Jacob knows what he's talking about. It ain't easy making decks restricted with a budget. And I'm not saying that it's bad because he's not including it, I always thought it was one of those cards that doesn't work like people think it will. My point is, there is a reason why he left it out. That reason is: it just doesn't work. It's not good enough, so it doesn't make the cut.The guy gets paid to make good decks that people can play with and still have a chance. Playing with Uril, the Miststalker is only shortchanging the people that want the best deck they can get on a budget.

This reminds me of a deck that was in his column not too long ago, and someone wondered why he didn't include Mirror-Sigil Sergeant. It was left off because it, too, is bad.

People on a budget want to play with good cards, too. Not things like Bloodhall Ooze, which is cheap, but just doesn't do enough to make a deck good.

Would Indestructibility be a possible SB card? Grants protection from a decks that run a lot of Day of judgement.

Why do you say this about Uril? You really haven't provided any argumentation except for repeating your conclusion over and over again.

Deft Dualist is great in this list because it provides an efficient body with shroud. This makes it very difficult to deal with once it has a Gigantiform on it. Uril would provide redundancy of this powerful ability at an efficient 5/5 for 5. While I don't think that building a deck solely around Uril and auras would work well, Uril is a perfect fit for this deck where you are already playing auras, and tutoring for them. Whatever Deft Dualist does for this list, Uril does better.

However, I will repeat what I said earlier. Uril would be a great fit for this deck but I still would not include it. This is because, despite it being powerful and a good fit, it is not on color. Additionally, at five mana, it does not fit in well with the curve. But it would be powerful in a deck like this, just not worthy of a splash.

Why do you say this about Uril? You really haven't provided any argumentation except for repeating your conclusion over and over again.

Deft Dualist is great in this list because it provides an efficient body with shroud. This makes it very difficult to deal with once it has a Gigantiform on it. Uril would provide redundancy of this powerful ability at an efficient 5/5 for 5. While I don't think that building a deck solely around Uril and auras would work well, Uril is a perfect fit for this deck where you are already playing auras, and tutoring for them. Whatever Deft Dualist does for this list, Uril does better.

However, I will repeat what I said earlier. Uril would be a great fit for this deck but I still would not include it. This is because, despite it being powerful and a good fit, it is not on color. Additionally, at five mana, it does not fit in well with the curve. But it would be powerful in a deck like this, just not worthy of a splash.

Probably has something to do with Gigantiform not making uril *that* much bigger. He's normally a 5/5, and any aura makes him a 7/7. You're using a gimmick to get Gigantiform out for free, but only netting +3/+3. Like Evershrike in a format without Moldervine Cloaks, only worse.

Why do you say this about Uril? You really haven't provided any argumentation except for repeating your conclusion over and over again.

Deft Dualist is great in this list because it provides an efficient body with shroud. This makes it very difficult to deal with once it has a Gigantiform on it. Uril would provide redundancy of this powerful ability at an efficient 5/5 for 5. While I don't think that building a deck solely around Uril and auras would work well, Uril is a perfect fit for this deck where you are already playing auras, and tutoring for them. Whatever Deft Dualist does for this list, Uril does better.

However, I will repeat what I said earlier. Uril would be a great fit for this deck but I still would not include it. This is because, despite it being powerful and a good fit, it is not on color. Additionally, at five mana, it does not fit in well with the curve. But it would be powerful in a deck like this, just not worthy of a splash.

Probably has something to do with Gigantiform not making uril *that* much bigger. He's normally a 5/5, and any aura makes him a 7/7. You're using a gimmick to get Gigantiform out for free, but only netting +3/+3. Like Evershrike in a format without Moldervine Cloaks, only worse.

Uril's P/T Turns into an 8/8 and then gets +2/+2 from his Ability, making it a +5/+5 Trample Aura, which is nothing to sneeze at. Add a Clestial Mantle and It's a 15/15 Trample Opp. Shroud that Doubles your Life total every swing(unless someone manages to get more than 14 toughness in the way, and if you did, you just, like five for threed them)

I would have killed, literally ended someones life, to NOT have Arrogant Bloodlord riding a giant ant...
Good times:

Lord_Zed:
I was at my friends house when this happened. He's married and his wife was an excellent baker. She had baked a homemade apple pie the night before.
I was hungry, and my friend convinced me to try those low carb monster drinks. Before this day, I had never triend energy drinks before.
Boy was I in for a treat.
When I tried that first monster, I really enjoyed the flavor, but the taste that it left in my mouth wasn't so good. What was my solution? Drink another!
before I could finish drinking that 2nd monster, I felt it already kicking in(these drinks were not very far apart, we're talking minutes here) my friend decided that it was a good idea to whip out that fresh pie his wife made the night before. I didn't know what to do, since I felt incredibly invigorated, and at the same time, freaked out by the rush I was feeling, but I was also hungry, and my friend have me an entire plate with a fork and said "help yourself." He extended his saucer to me, and I cut him a piece of the pie and handed it to him, then I looked at the pie, noticed that the pie was in an aluminum holder, and dumped the entire pie onto my plate and started eating it with 2 forks. I don't know where I found that other fork, it probably came from my friend. Anyhow, his wife wasn't happy, and I was already in magical christmas land. 2 days later, I was in my friends bed and I slept for 14 hours.
His wife outlawed my from having any of her baked goods for a while(which sucked because I could just show up at there house, steal some sweets, and leave) and said I couldn't have any energy drinks at her house, unless under close watch.
My friend, on the other hand, had to take me out to a steak dinner, because apparently I won a bet where I climbed a tree and didn't die.

Uril's P/T Turns into an 8/8 and then gets +2/+2 from his Ability, making it a +5/+5 Trample Aura, which is nothing to sneeze at. Add a Clestial Mantle and It's a 15/15 Trample Opp. Shroud that Doubles your Life total every swing(unless someone manages to get more than 14 toughness in the way, and if you did, you just, like five for threed them)

And when you put it on a Deft Duelist it's a +6/+7 Trample Aura. See, much more efficient.

Uril gets an additional +2/+2, that's the only benefit. Because Gigantiform sets power/toughness instead of increasing it, it doesn't make sense to play big expensive creatures. Especially off-color ones.

Uril's P/T Turns into an 8/8 and then gets +2/+2 from his Ability, making it a +5/+5 Trample Aura, which is nothing to sneeze at. Add a Clestial Mantle and It's a 15/15 Trample Opp. Shroud that Doubles your Life total every swing(unless someone manages to get more than 14 toughness in the way, and if you did, you just, like five for threed them)

And when you put it on a Deft Duelist it's a +6/+7 Trample Aura. See, much more efficient.

Uril gets an additional +2/+2, that's the only benefit. Because Gigantiform sets power/toughness instead of increasing it, it doesn't make sense to play big expensive creatures. Especially off-color ones.

I know, and I'm not arguing that Uril is a bad inclusion. I was just pointing out that he was misunderstanding the interaction, and then got carried away because I secretly love Uril!

I would have killed, literally ended someones life, to NOT have Arrogant Bloodlord riding a giant ant...
Good times:

Lord_Zed:
I was at my friends house when this happened. He's married and his wife was an excellent baker. She had baked a homemade apple pie the night before.
I was hungry, and my friend convinced me to try those low carb monster drinks. Before this day, I had never triend energy drinks before.
Boy was I in for a treat.
When I tried that first monster, I really enjoyed the flavor, but the taste that it left in my mouth wasn't so good. What was my solution? Drink another!
before I could finish drinking that 2nd monster, I felt it already kicking in(these drinks were not very far apart, we're talking minutes here) my friend decided that it was a good idea to whip out that fresh pie his wife made the night before. I didn't know what to do, since I felt incredibly invigorated, and at the same time, freaked out by the rush I was feeling, but I was also hungry, and my friend have me an entire plate with a fork and said "help yourself." He extended his saucer to me, and I cut him a piece of the pie and handed it to him, then I looked at the pie, noticed that the pie was in an aluminum holder, and dumped the entire pie onto my plate and started eating it with 2 forks. I don't know where I found that other fork, it probably came from my friend. Anyhow, his wife wasn't happy, and I was already in magical christmas land. 2 days later, I was in my friends bed and I slept for 14 hours.
His wife outlawed my from having any of her baked goods for a while(which sucked because I could just show up at there house, steal some sweets, and leave) and said I couldn't have any energy drinks at her house, unless under close watch.
My friend, on the other hand, had to take me out to a steak dinner, because apparently I won a bet where I climbed a tree and didn't die.

I know, and I'm not arguing that Uril is a bad inclusion. I was just pointing out that he was misunderstanding the interaction, and then got carried away because I secretly love Uril!

Actually (and I had to read his post about 7 times before I figured out what he was saying), he does understand the interaction. He was saying that putting ANY aura on Uril makes him a 7/7, and we are using a trick to put a big expensive aura on him that will only make him a 10/10, thus "netting" +3/+3.

In any case, it seems we all agree that he is a bad fit for this deck, so I think we can safely move on.

Yeah, putting in Dauntless Escort and Garruk were the first things I did when I was trying to transition it from being budget and good to being non-budget and even better. Fortunately, if you play enough Magic you have cards like this. I have 4x Garruks and Dauntless Escorts from previous decks.

I thought about Lotus Cobras and maybe a couple of Eldrazi too. But I don't have those cards and don't care to buy them. In all reality, Knight of the White Orchid and Civic Wayfinder or Garruk are probably better than the Cobras in this deck anyway. KotWO, Wayfinder, and Garruk all provide mana while leaving a body on the table; whereas, Cobra is just a removal target. Without some sort of disgusting Khalni Heart Expedition/Harrow shenanigans or filter lands, Cobra really isn't much better than Steward of Valeron.

Eldrazi seems cool, but I'm not sure if it is better than Dauntless Escort. Eldrazi is more expensive and does less on its own.

I'll definetly add Garruk into my version. Do you think birds of paradise would be a mana accel possibility?

Yeah, putting in Dauntless Escort and Garruk were the first things I did when I was trying to transition it from being budget and good to being non-budget and even better. Fortunately, if you play enough Magic you have cards like this. I have 4x Garruks and Dauntless Escorts from previous decks.

I thought about Lotus Cobras and maybe a couple of Eldrazi too. But I don't have those cards and don't care to buy them. In all reality, Knight of the White Orchid and Civic Wayfinder or Garruk are probably better than the Cobras in this deck anyway. KotWO, Wayfinder, and Garruk all provide mana while leaving a body on the table; whereas, Cobra is just a removal target. Without some sort of disgusting Khalni Heart Expedition/Harrow shenanigans or filter lands, Cobra really isn't much better than Steward of Valeron.

Eldrazi seems cool, but I'm not sure if it is better than Dauntless Escort. Eldrazi is more expensive and does less on its own.

I'll definetly add Garruk into my version. Do you think birds of paradise would be a mana accel possibility?

It could, but if you can, just add the Garruk's. I find that relying on a creature for an ability that needs to waid a turn to activate is a baaaad decision inthis meta(or, in my local meta,"Hey! it's the Jund Variety fun hour featuring Boros Bushwacker!" Ugh, new block Metas are so boring.).

I would have killed, literally ended someones life, to NOT have Arrogant Bloodlord riding a giant ant...
Good times:

Lord_Zed:
I was at my friends house when this happened. He's married and his wife was an excellent baker. She had baked a homemade apple pie the night before.
I was hungry, and my friend convinced me to try those low carb monster drinks. Before this day, I had never triend energy drinks before.
Boy was I in for a treat.
When I tried that first monster, I really enjoyed the flavor, but the taste that it left in my mouth wasn't so good. What was my solution? Drink another!
before I could finish drinking that 2nd monster, I felt it already kicking in(these drinks were not very far apart, we're talking minutes here) my friend decided that it was a good idea to whip out that fresh pie his wife made the night before. I didn't know what to do, since I felt incredibly invigorated, and at the same time, freaked out by the rush I was feeling, but I was also hungry, and my friend have me an entire plate with a fork and said "help yourself." He extended his saucer to me, and I cut him a piece of the pie and handed it to him, then I looked at the pie, noticed that the pie was in an aluminum holder, and dumped the entire pie onto my plate and started eating it with 2 forks. I don't know where I found that other fork, it probably came from my friend. Anyhow, his wife wasn't happy, and I was already in magical christmas land. 2 days later, I was in my friends bed and I slept for 14 hours.
His wife outlawed my from having any of her baked goods for a while(which sucked because I could just show up at there house, steal some sweets, and leave) and said I couldn't have any energy drinks at her house, unless under close watch.
My friend, on the other hand, had to take me out to a steak dinner, because apparently I won a bet where I climbed a tree and didn't die.